Clinical data in hospitals and other medical facilities is often stored in a central server or set of servers located on-site at the facility. The central server is primarily accessed via computer terminals at the facility. These computer terminals are referred to a thick clients because data retrieved from the central server is processed on the computer terminal. The data stored on the system is acquired from a multitude of sources, such as the hospital's information system, billing system, and other, more specialized, data repositories.
A disadvantage of such known systems is that it is inconvenient for physicians and other medical staff working at the hospital to access clinical data stored on the central server or servers because they must log on to an on-site computer terminal to view the clinical data.
Another disadvantage of such known systems is that software for processing and receiving the clinical data executes on each on-site computer terminal. Such a system is expensive to maintain because each computer terminal must be addressed individually.
Another disadvantage of such known systems is that they do not enable a person outside the medical staff to access clinical data stored on the system. Patients, for example, cannot access their own clinical data.
Another disadvantage of such known systems is that they do not allow a physician who has referred a patient to the hospital where the patient's data is stored to access the data stored on the system.
There is a desire therefore for a system and method for providing access to clinical data that overcomes the limitations of the prior art.